Tad bit of a dilemna (Hikaru No Go) **Spoilers**

[Gonzai]

Ok, I absolutely fell in love with this anime, to the
point I ranked it right up there with Inuyasha and
Naruto. That is saying alot for it, cause I absolutely
adore the other 2. Well, here is my dilemna:

When Sai fades away during his last game with Hikaru, I was absolutely crushed. I literally cried, I was so shocked.

Now here I am at a crossroads. I have 2 DVDs left
to watch, and at this point can't bring myself to do it.
Am I just being a putz?? I can't believe how much
this has affected me.

[Elfstalker]

I was the same way. I cried! It's heart-wrenching to see how Hikaru deals with the loss. But you MUST finish the series! You must be strong! Not only Hikaru, but the others become stronger inside and you feel it when you watch them overcome their struggles. The music really fits perfectly with the mood. (Gotta love DREAM.)

The ending still left me a bit sad, but I think it ended well. I just wish more OVA's will come out.

[glorff]

You MUST finish the series and the special.

You can deal with your pain along with Hikaru

Remember that Sai will always be there with him, in a way............

[kymaera]

I'm probably not the best person to ask because I never got around to
finishing the series.

Right after Sai disappeared, Hikaru handling it seemed really dragged out. Then, they started going into a combination of flashbacks and it just killed all the motivation that I had to watch the show.

[Gonzai]

Thanks ES - I will go ahead and watch the ending tonight.
I had already ordered the OVA, which I was really excited
about getting. But, looking at the cover, seems like things
don't change. I was hoping for something miraculous to
come along. How about the manga - anyone read the
manga??

[Gonzai]

You MUST finish the series and the special.

You can deal with your pain along with Hikaru

Remember that Sai will always be there with him, in a way............

See Glorff, that statement alone makes me want to cry.

[Elfstalker]

For manga, I only read a few volumes of it in Shonen Jump. But since I had already seen the entire series, I was impatient to read the story from the beginning. Unless you have the entire manga in your hands, the story seems to drag. There are some subtle differences though, which is a good thing, so you can compare to the tv series.

[Baylor]

I concur with ES 100%.

It was pretty sad

when Sai disappeared

and when

Hikaru realizes he's never coming back and feels like it's his fault

, but his development and the other characters' development makes it all worth it. Think of Sai as merely a guide in helping Hikaru grow up and become an astounding Go player.

And glorff is right...such guides will always be with us.

[Elendil]

I loved HnG and I thought the ending was approprite. However, I really really REALLY hope that in like.....3 or 4 years....there will be some new manga/anime about (is this spoilerish? not sure)

how Hikaru has become the greatest Go player ever.

That would make me really happy.

Nikki

[glorff]

I will be happy with a lifelong rivalry and their continuing efforts to come out on top at each tournament

[Baylor]

Ditto.

[hobbywhelmed]

I've read the whole manga. Yeah, losing Sai is a bad time, but so much of the manga continues past that point, into Hikaru's adolescence and his progress into the Go competition world, that Sai's part of the story feels much more balanced in the whole thing. Yeah, in a way, in the person H becomes, and his mannerisms in playing, Sai is still a part of him.

Maybe Sai didn't go elsewhere, really, but became part of Hikaru?

[EternityOfPain]

NOTE: I wrote a whole bunch of spoilers so dont read below if you haven't seen it!






When I saw the part that Sai.. well *vanishes* it is a bit sad but you slowly realize that Sai who originally thought that his purpose for returning was to become the world best go player, instead he found out that he was there to simply guide Hikaru into the go world. You notice that throughout the series Hikaru several times sees moves that even Sai can not fully understand (when hikaru vs. the korean kid) however it turned out to be an amazing move. If anything you can think of hikaru as the "chosen one" basically who has an a gift in the game of go. This is apprent throughout the series as you see his rapid progress in the game and becomes of such a elite player in such a short time. Basically Hikaru had already passed Sai when he vanished, thus making is presense kind of meaningless. Its like a person graduating High School. You can stay there forever, once you graduate you have to go higher and learn more things. Now is the time in HnG for Hikaru to follow what he belives is right. Sai helped him along the way much like a mentor however his role is now complete.